"Avery. Avery. Avery."

Sweep's voice is almost drowned out by the monotony of my paws tapping on the wooden floor. I step back and forth across the room, tail swinging violently as I contemplate the task at paw. No one has asked me to do anything all day and given current events, I can't help but wonder if I'm being shut out of the loop. Plumeria's definitely doing some strategy work at the moment, Marie will be training and sending out Defenders across the three continents to assist with evacuation efforts and peacekeeping, and who knows how stressed Heilin must be. Torch and Iris have to be doing something, too, but I have no clue what.

When did my life get so busy? I think, and the other side of my mind responds at once, Probably when the world started ending.

"Avery!"
"What?" I yelp. "I'm being productive!"

Sweep holds up a long roll of sparkly tinsel, the magically-infused kind that sparkles like a localized explosion. The colors are those typical of the planting season, a mixture of light blues and greens, mixed with dazzling whites, but it also helps that they're some of Natrina's signature colors. "Okay, you're pacing. I get it. Can you pace around the edge of the library with this tinsel? We're trying to look presentable before the ambassadors and alphas get here. Heilin's having a huge meeting-"

"I know about the meeting!" I say, terribly offended I won't be at said meeting. "Should you be doing something right now?"

"Come again?" There's a low edge to her voice, and I don't know if she's jokingly offended or just offended.

"S-sorry. I know you don't really have, uh," I take the tinsel. "I'll stop talking."
"Aves, are you okay?"

The world is ending, I think.

"Yeah, of course." I tell her, jumping onto a table and making the flying leap onto one of the bookshelves. They're set in place, so I don't have to worry about knocking them over. I used to come up here to read, when I was small, but it's also convenient for trailing things across the ceiling. Sweep slinks away, and I feel guilt pierce my heart. Verhamera's tails, it's just my luck that I finally get the courage to talk to the Canira of my dreams and I say the dumbest possible things to her.

Admittedly, though, trailing the tinsel out makes me feel a little less useless. Down below, I can see the others arranging newly-budded flowers and putting up tapestries of the earlier High Auspicias, especially Amaranth, the Fifth. Heilin often goes by "Heilin Amaranth", in homage to her previous incarnation. It was a popular choice- the Fifth's benevolence lead to a reign of peace and prosperity, and Heilin's uneventful reign has been said to echo that.

Uneventful, of course, until now.

My thoughts spin back towards the dizzying end of times approaching when a beaked face pops up inches from my snout.

"Hey!"

I fall off the bookshelf, slamming against my side on the ground with an impact that knocks all the air from my lungs.

"Did you read my manuscript?" Quill asks, plumed tail waving. It's a weird gesture, given her features, but I know she's worked a long time on mimicking canine body language, so I wave back.

"I'm sorry, things... came up." I admit as she jumps down from the shelf and lands off to the side of me, still heartbeats away from my face. I get to my paws, thankful I didn't damage my wings, and try to look upset instead of outright annoyed.

"Oh! That's fine. Your job must be difficult-" I choke out a laugh that sounds even more forced than I had intended. Quill's round eyes dilate with surprise. "Very difficult."

"Keep it down over there." Aidan hisses around the shelf.

"Let me go deal with him," I tell Quill. I shoulder my way out of the narrow corridor formed by the two shelves and into the historical section of the library, where there are just as many things on pedestals or behind locked doors as there are in the shelves. The section is dimly lit and has a set of stairs at the middle, a circling set that descends into the depths of the castle's underground. Canii guards stalk the entrance. Aidan is sitting atop a table at the edge, with a book taller than Bells at his paws, tail flicking with mild disinterest. "What are you up to?"

"Reading." he says. I recognize the book, since it's the same one he takes out to read at least four times a season.

"This old thing? Again?" I joke. In reality, the Queen of Spades is one of the most valuable tomes in the collection, but the magic protections placed upon them are so powerful that there's no way we could damage the book in any way. Six separate Sentient species shared magic to create the charms placed upon it- the book will return to its shelf if removed from the library, will not tear, stains will sink into the pages and disappear, and over the years the book has acquired every -proof known to Dreamland. As such, not only is it a great read, but it's thickness and resistance to breakage also makes it an excellent non-lethal projectile. (Not that I'd throw it. Aidan would, though. Aidan has.)

Aidan dips his head. "Figured I'd look over Inver's battle strategies for the umpteenth time. I know you have them memorized, Avery."

I look over to see not the complex battle diagrams the Eighth Auspicia was so famous for but rather a hasty sketch of a long-furred Felis with eyes rimmed in four irises and on the opposite page, her High Auspicia in her traditional battle armor, nostrils flared as she looks upwards towards the sun. "Are you reading Inver's account of her affair with Agate?" I squeal. "Oh, it's the bit with the pictures!"

"Alleged affair." Aidan's fur is up in waves as he slams the tome closed, and I know I've got him. "The wording is dubious, and for the record, it's pronounced 'Ay-ga-toe'. Every time you pronounce it 'Ay-gate' I want to slice your fur off."

"Sorry." I say, then perking up, add, "Don't let Quill catch you reading that. You know how she gets about Inver and Agate."

"That's because she's just reading what she wants to read. They were combatants as much as they were lovers, two rival leaders locked in a desperate struggle as the kingdoms they cared for so much tore each other to shreds." Aidan says, flipping the page to a full-color, full-body drawing of Agate, who takes up the whole spread (save for some commentary by Inver). The Nyuhenge, first of her shapeshifting, Felis-esque kin, stares proudly at us from the pages of history. Once, when Felii and the two Canid species warred for the fate of this land, Agate stood in bold opposition to the Auspicia herself.

"How many times have you read this, anyways?"
"All the way over? Maybe fifty, possibly sixty times. I come back to certain parts, though-" he flips a few pages and reads from memory, "So frost fell upon the innards of our castle as it did on the outsides of our territory, harsh and thick, leaving only a land devoid of warmth and noise... I shivered, not from fear of the cold, but for fear of the pawsteps of the predator, stalking through the bleak white towards me. She would not be so easily deterred- the cold does not bother her frozen heart." His Inver impression was my favorite thing about working with him as a pup, we used to read through all the old documents and imitate the old Auspicias. His eyes shine with good humor as he takes on the practiced, haughty tone and straightens himself up into a regal and dismissive pose. I chirrup like a pup, a soft giggling noise, and he pushes me off the table.

"Don't mock the Auspicia, fool."

"I have been smote," I declare. "Have mercy on my peasant soul."

"What are you two fishbrains doing over here?" An indignant Marie asks, looking in at the scene. "Never mind, I don't care. We need to steal Avery for a little bit."

I sigh with relief, only for a new wave of troubles and stresses to take the place of my previous concerns. Now that I know I'm needed... needed for what? "Sorry, Aidan," I say, and Marie leads me out of the library, pausing for a second to look over the tapestry of a six-winged Amaranth, whose wings pour down rain on the parched land below. Farmers, Canii all, look up with intense gratitude. Of course, there are few to no Canii who actually farm when natural-based Canira can do the job much more efficiently, but it's still a pretty image. When the door whines closed behind us and Marie guides me up a set of stairs instead of down towards the simulations, I ask, "Where are you taking me?"

"HQ," Marie responds.

I feel a prickle of excitement. Surely, she has to be joking, but Marie continues up the stairs and past several sets of guards into a hall up on the tenth floor, one I've never been on before- and I've been here for six years. The decoration is ornate, with royal violet accents on silver and intricate carvings etched into the columns and walls. Many paintings move, a luxury that takes thousands of hours of painting and magical craftsmanship, and it's packed with Sentients of all species scuffling around underfoot, and the doors on either side of us are semi-opaque glass that lead into offices. At the end, there's a grand entrance that leads out into a floor with a projection of Dreamland not unlike the simulation, with dots in a thousand different colors scattered across the three continents and the archipelago scattered about beneath them. Everyone there is decked in magical wear, be it crystal necklaces or armor, and many line the corners, speaking with a hazy reflection of other Sentients (who must be out on field missions).

This is HQ.

"I got the newbie, Plumeria." Marie yells, and only Plumeria seems to realize we exist. The purple Canis nods, beckoning us over to the projection, and I step beneath it to the tables below. There are dozens of Sentients sitting at a long table below said image, arguing fervently, but when Plumeria gets up to find us a spot they quiet down. I'm still staring up at the screen, awestruck, and Marie whispers, "That's us, Avery. All of us."

"What do you need me for?" I ask meekly.

"Orders from Her Highest Auspicia." Plumeria say. The other Sentients, mainly Canis with a sprinkling of Canira and a pawful of more exotic species, are more than twice my age. Marie is an exceptions, but for the most part these are incredibly seasoned warriors and commanders. "She's taken quite the interest in you, says you tend to have good ideas. Your skills thus far have proved... promising."

"I didn't come here from Evelsca to play with Heilin's pet," an Evelscan Fauna says, crystal blossoming alongside her horns. The deerlike Sentient continues, contemptuously, "Shows how much she cares about this whole ordeal. Our drop zones are placed so halphazardly, you'd think you were trying to get out Defenders killed."

"We had to put them out of the way of civilization," replies a Canis. "We won't be able to open more than eight portals to the Obsidian dimension without bringing the whole barrier down, so we placed them where we'd have to relocate the most civilians. Our effectiveness in battle was another factor, but the more habitable parts of the mountains are swarming with Mistral Canira and some electric-based breeds. We're not wasting our energy forcing them to comply."

"The drop zone in the desert isn't working much better. The local fire-based tribes refuse to shift their roaming patterns to evacuate the site, and the local network of Moonwalkers and Kurokai are in on it as well."

The sole Felis as the table sneers, "Always you damned Canira and your traditions."

A silver Canira with strangely furled ears and short fur slams her paws on the table. "Oh, now it's our problem. We happen to take up ten times your share of the population, ten times the lot of you, yet on a regular basis Defender calls for Canira peacekeeping are the same as those they get to untangle the latest issue with Fauna dealmaking or Felis hostility."

"Hostility? You know full well how many of those attacks you provoke!" the Felis snaps back.

"There is no 'you' here, just an us. I recommend you all calm down." Plumeria tells the group.

"There will be a 'you' as long as you make it about a 'you'." hisses the Felis. "If you want to discuss something else, though- when were you going to talk to us about the Determination and Hope Keepers?"

"I've said all there is to say."

Marie speaks for the first time this meeting: "You've said that we plan to keep them cooped up on an alien world with little to no explanation until they go mad, and then we ship them right back off to the Factory to fight a battle they barely know why they should be involved with, all without ever informing the public."

"The public will be tasked enough when they hear about the Obsidian threat. We've already told select populations, and news is getting around... throwing the Hope and Determination Keepers in might be the final pawstep to throw the world into anarchy."

"Or they might be able to fix things. We need heroes, whether you want to admit it or not."

"Well, why don't you go tell the public the apocalypse is happening in the harvest season and that our only hope is two untrained pups."

"They don't have to be untrained. I want them in with the Defenders."

"And Natrina will just let them go?"

I've never seen Marie and Plumeria argue before, and by the looks of it, neither has anyone else there. Finally, the silver Canira gets in between the two of them, and snaps, "We'll ask Natrina and Heilin about this."

"Thank you, Echo." Plumeria says. "Onto the next matter. Ascella, have you contacted the Evelscan squadrons we need for the frontal attack plans for the drop zone nearest the castle?"

Ascella, the Fauna, dips her head. "Of course. Have you spoken with your... associates?"

"Which associates? Is she talking about the assassin?" asks Marie.

"You hired an assassin?" I yelp. "Into the castle?"

"No, we hired Epanza. She's an ex-Defender. Probably legal." Plumeria shoots a pointed glance at Marie.

"Why are you staring at me? She's not one of my Defenders." Marie says.

"Sweep was right. You're completely insufferable."

"Let's keep it professional, ladies." The Felis from earlier purrs. "Just because you're young doesn't give you an excuse to bring chatty gossip into official meetings."

"Speaking of Sweep, can she handle the Evelscan squadron? I'm being ordered back to Evelsca by Athena. Sweep is supposed to be our diplomat," Ascella interjects, with a bitter tinge to the 'supposed'.

"I don't want to deal with her." Marie grumbles.
"I can help." I peep from the corner.

All eyes turn to me, as if I was a kaanin or other non-Sentient food species that just stood on its hind legs. "Well, well. Heilin's pet finally speaks up."

"All creatures given a voice by Verhamera's gift of life are ordained, by the stars themselves, to use it." I say, with a degree of confidence I wasn't aware I possessed. It's a quote from Asha, second Auspicia, but no one has to know that right now.

"Then she'll deal with Sweep?" Ascella says.

"I would be happy to meditate between Sweep and the Evelscan squadron, and, furthermore, I can take up the matter of Iris and Torch, who by the way, have names, with Her Highest Auspicia and Natrina when the latter arrives. Any more issues, or can we adjourn?" I ask.

"Vote to adjourn?" Plumeria asks, a smile sneaking across her face.

There are no objections, and everyone votes "aye" to adjourn, returning to their own stations. Marie sneaks up to me afterwards, tail swinging back and forth at incredible velocity, and slams against my shoulder. When I swing around, she says, "Ey. Someone has guts."

I shrug.

"They'll be giving you a hard time after this. They think you're a plant by Heilin."

"Fifty-third High Auspicia. There was a scandal with mind control, and ever since, this room has been protected from all long-distance mind reading, mind sharing, and other inter-mind communication spells. They have nothing to worry about." I quote as we descend the stairs to the library.

"You might not be able to communicate mind to mind, but you still have a mouth, and you've proven you can use it. Quoting one of the Auspicias? Also an iffy move. You need to prove that you're not her plaything."

"I don't know what I am, though." I say as we approach the library gates. "In regards to all of this."

"Figure it out." Marie says, and with another swing of her finned tail, she disappears back into the crowded halls, leaving me alone at the doors that get smaller every time I get back to them.

Aidan's still reading the Queen of Spades, more likely than not. The thought of it fills me with a strange sadness- if we couldn't get three species to cooperate way back in the day, then how are we ever supposed to reconcile the hundreds of species, breeds, and other groups that now coexist in Dreamland.

As I stumble through the library, Sweep pads up to me, several tapestries on her back, folded neatly between her wings. "Good to see you back. Hey, would you mind stringing up the rest of the tinsel? Quill got stuck in it and then gave up."

"I... I just want to lie down right now." I say, the thrill of the debate subsiding in me. All those eyes, the thought of all those scowling faces, all of it makes me feel sick.

"Really? That bad?"

"That bad?! Oh, stars, however bad you're thinking- I wish it was that bad. I really wish." I say, emitting a noise somewhere between sobbing and laughing.

"Aves, is something wrong?" asks Sweep. Aidan is watching us from the corner, mirroring her concern. The library is almost entirely empty, but I wish so badly there was some background chatter to distract me from Sweep's sympathetic gaze.

A thousand thoughts race through my head, a thousand reasons why I shouldn't tell her, but it's like there's a river gushing out of my mouth. Desperately, I look into her eyes, and say, "The world is ending. There- the Obsidians are going to come, and the Hope and Determination Keepers are just pups who have no clue what they're doing, and no one is evacuating, and they keep asking me to do all this and I think I'm doing okay, but I don't know, and everyone's just- I don't know if I can do this, and I'm gone all the time. I'm sorry. You must be so upset at me..."

"Oh, Avery..." she says, burying her snout against my neck fur to comfort me. I feel my heartbeat pick up and the tears keep coming."Why would we be upset at you?"

I bawl, "I lied! I was so wrapped up in all this job that I thought I had to keep it secret from you."

"Avery, we live in the same castle." Sweep laughs. "How would I not know?"

"But-"

"We didn't know everything, because no one bothers to tell us-"

"I know, right?!"

"-but we knew enough to get why you'd be so stressed, and enough to be reasonably concerned for our lives.

"Not that we wouldn't appreciate you keeping us in the know." Aidan finishes, stepping towards us. "Obviously don't tell Maple, because then she'll rag on all of us for spreading about rumors and classified information, but you can trust us. We're your family."

I embrace them both, relieved. "and I couldn't be happier to have you all."

(A/N: this is a lil unprofessional but if anyone's confused by anything in this chapter can you tell me??? there's a lot of exposition dumping and i'd like to revise to clear up any misconceptions about the universe)